Methods and apparatus for parcelling cartons or the like



Feb. 23, 1960 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PARCELLING CARTONS OR THE LIKEFiled Jan. 16, 1956 QQQGQQ a @OQ/QCQ 8 Inventor RAVER y W M, HWY

Attorneys AND APPARATUS FOR PARCELLING CARTONS OR THE LIKE Claimspriority, application Great 'Britain February 15, 1955 lVlETHODS It isnowadays the practice to fasten together cartons or the like .eitherbecause it is more convenient to handle them in groups or because theyare sold under certain circumstances in groups rather than individually.For ex ample with cartons of synthetic detergent it may be that theselling price of a .group of two cartons is less than twice the price ofeach carton and it is then convenient to fasten two cartons together sothatthey may be handled by the retailer and customer as a single articleor it may be that one of the cartons is a free sample given when theother carton is bought.

The present invention has for its .object to enable cartons, usuallyafter they have been filled, to be fastened together.

According to this invention there is provided a process for fasteningtogether cartons or the like in groups comprising moving forward a lineof cartons past a taping station at which adhesive tape is drawn off aroll by the forward movement of the line of cartons and applied thereto,some of the cartons being staggered sideways of the forward direction oftravel, and separating successive groups from the line of cartons bysevering the tape stretched across the step, formed by the saidstaggering, between the last carton of one group and the first carton ofthe next succeeding group. The cartons are preferably staggered as theyare moved forward after the tape has been applied.

According to a feature of the invention the tape is severed by movingthe line of cartons past a knife carried by or integral with a rotarymember which engages the cartons and is driven thereby, rotation of thesaid member being interrupted immediately prior to, and during, thesevering operation. It should be understood that the said knife may be acutting edge formed on the said rotating member.

Suitable types of adhesive tape for use in the practice of the inventionare, pressure sensitive adhesive tape, thermoplastic tape, gummed tapeto which water is ap plied immediately before application of the tape tothe cartons, and tape to which adhesive material is applied before thetape is applied to the cartons.

Practical applications of the invention will be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings whichdiagramma'tically illustrate a preferred way of carrying the inventioninto elfect.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus according to the invention, and

Figures 2-4 are perspective views of cutter mechanisms which may be usedwith the apparatus of Figure 1.

A line of cartons is fed forward by a conveyor on to a dead plate uponwhich the cartons stand and along which they are moved by the cartonsbeing pushed forward by the conveyor.

In Figure 1 the dead plate is indicated by the reference numeral 5 andthe cartons are indicated by the reference numeral 6. The cartons 6 arepushed along United States Parent 0 2,925,946 Patented Feb. 23, 1960 theassembly comprising the roll of tape and associated pressure roller isduplicated at each side of the line of cartons, the pairs of assembliesbeing spaced in the line of travel thereof. In this way immediatelyprior to one roll of tape becoming exhausted the operator draws the tapefrom the second assembly and applies it to the cartons, a fresh roll oftape being provided at the first assembly so that continuous operationis assured.

The taped cartons then pass along the dead plate to the apparatus shownin Figure l. The adhesive tapes are indicated at 7. The cartons passbetween groups of vertical guide rollers 8 which engage the oppositetaped sides of the cartons. Guide platm may be used instead of rollersand the latter, though it is preferred that they be idlers, may bedriven. The rollers 8 are arranged so that their axes of rotation lie inplanes parallel with the sides of the cartons. Interposed between theline of rollers 8 is a rotary cutter 9, and associated therewith is agroup of rollers 10 the axes of which lie in a plane offset with respectto the plane of the axes of the rollers 8 as shown in Figure l. Theeffect is that each carton moving in the direction of the arrow x as itengages the rotary cutter 9 is moved sideways of the direction of travelat the effect being that such staggering produces a step 11 across whichthe adhesive tape is stretched. The staggered cartons are held inposition by rollers 10. When it is desired to parcel the cartons intogroups of two it is arranged that the circumference of the rotary cutter9 is more than the Width, and less than twice the width, of 'a carton.Normally the rotary cutter 9 engages and is rotated by the cartons sothey move forward in the direction of the arrow x. Referring moreparticularly to Figure -2 the rotary cutter 9 comprises a cylinder 13which carries the cutter blade 12 between a pair of radially disposedfingers 14 having slightly curved ends. The fingers 14 are in line withthe blade 12 and it is arranged that the tape 7 passes between thefingers 14 to engage the cutter blade,

The cutter cylinder 13 will be driven by the moving line of cartonsuntil the fingers 14 engage with the sides of the cartons whereuponfurther rotation of the cutter cylinder is prevented. In view of theselection of the relative sizes of the circumference of the cuttercylinder in relation to the width of the cartons as mentioned above, itis ensured that this occurs before the cutter blade 12 reaches the step11. After the fingers 14 have engaged the cartons the latter are movedforward past the blade 12 to bring the portion of the tape stretchedacross the step 11 against the blade 12 so that with further movement ofthe line of cartons the tape is cut.

The cutter arrangement has been described as applied to one side of thecartons. A similar cutter 9a having a cutter blade 12a is provided for astep 11a on the other side, and this cutter 9a is preferably locatedthree or more carton widths from the first cutter, depending on thenumber of cartons it is intended to parcel into each group.

Figure 3 shows a similar arrangement wherein the rotary cutter 12 isprovided at the edge of a triangular member 15 which engages the line ofcartons and is rotated thereby. With the arrangement of Figure 3 it isintended that the cartons be fastened together in groups of three. Eachcarton is staggered sideways as it moves past the triangular member anedge of the member entering the step 11 so that the tape is cut by blade12. Of course a cutting cylinder 9 as described with reference 3 toFigure 1 may also be used for groups of three cartons, the cylinderhaving a circumference greater than twice and less than three timcsthewidth of the cartons.

A cutter of square section maybe used having a pair of blades projectingfrom diagonally opposite corners when each group comprises two cartons.Such-a cutter with a single blade would be used for a group of fourcartons.

Where the group of cartons comprises five or more cartons, the cuttermay be provided with a corresponding number of sides and with a singleblade. This is illustrated in Figure 4 which shows an arrangement inwhich the rotary cutter 12 is provided at the edge of a fivesided member16. In order to prevent slipping between the member 16 and the cartons,a longitudinally extending groove 17 is formed in each side of themember, each groove 17 being disposed adjacent a corner of the member16.

-It is to be understood that the tapes may be attached to the top andbottom of the cartons instead of to the sides thereof.

While the cartons are preferably all the same width the invention hasapplication to cartons of slightly different width and also to cartonsof slightly different breadth -i.e. the distance across the oppositetaped sides may vary slightly.

I claim:

1. A method for severing into groups a series of cartons having acontinuous strip of adhesive tape secured to at least one lateralsurface thereof, comprising the steps of moving forward a line ofcartons, displacing successive cartons normal to their forward directionof travel, and separating successive groups from the line of cartons bysevering the tape stretched across the step, formed by the said normaldisplacement, between the last carton of one group and the first cartonof the next succeeding group.

2. A method for severing into groups a series of cartons connected inabutting relation by a continuous flexible strip adhesively secured toone lateral surface thereof, comprising the steps of moving the cartonsin the direction of the length of the strip in a predetermined path,displacing successive cartons laterally of the direction of movementthereof as the cartons pass a predetermined point in said path, wherebythe strip is partly freed from a displaced carton and stretched acrossto the next succeeding carton to form momentarily a free bight in thestrip, and periodically severing the strip by cutting the same at thebight thus formed to separate the series of cartons into groups, eachgroup including a plurality of cartons.

3. Apparatus for severing into groups a series of cartons having acontinuous strip of adhesive tape secured to at least one lateralsurface thereof comprising means for moving a line of cartons, means forstaggering some of the cartons normal to the forward direction oftravel, and means for separating successive groups from the line ofcartons by severing the tape stretched across the step, formed by thesaid staggering, between the last carton of one group and the firstcarton of the next succeeding group.

4. Apparatus for severing into groups a series of cartons connected inabutting relation by a continuous flexible strip adhesively secured toone lateral surface thereof, comprising means for moving the cartons inthe direction of the length of the strip in a predetermined path, meanslocated adjacent said path for engaging and displacing successivecartons laterally of the direction of movement thereof, whereof the.strip is partly pulled away from a displaced carton to form momentarilya free bight in the strip, and a device operable to engage and severselected bights only to separate the series of cartons into groups, eachgroup including a plurality of cartons.

5. Apparatus for severing into groups a series of cartons havinug acontinuous strip of adhesive tape secured to at least one lateralsurface thereof comprising means for moving a line of cartons, means forstaggering some of the cartons sideways of the forward direction oftravel, means for separating successive groups from the line of cartonsby severing the tape stretched across the step, formed by the saidstaggering, between the last carton of one group and the first carton'of the next succeding group, said means for staggering the cartonsacting to stagger the cartons as they are moved forward after the tapehas been applied, said means for separating successive groups includinga knife adapted to sever the tape as the cartons are moved past theknife, said knife being carried by a rotary member which engages thecartons and is driven thereby, rotation of the said member beinginterrupted immediately prior to and during the severing operation.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the rotary member is amember having a number of sides corresponding to the number of cartonswhich are to be fastened together.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the rotary member has atleast five sides, a longitudinally extending grove disposed adjacent acorner of the member being formed in each side.

8. Apparaus for severing into groups a series of cartons having acontinuous strip of adhesive tape secured to at least one lateralsurface thereof comprising means for moving a line of cartons, means forstaggering some of the cartons sideways of the forward direction oftravel, means for separating successive groups from the line of cartonsby severing the tape stretched across the step, formed by thesaidsstaggering, between the last carton of one group and the firstcarton of the next succeeding group, said means for staggeringthecartons acting to stagger the cartons as they are moved forward afterthe tape has been applied,-the means'for movingthe cartons comprises twosets of guide rollers, the sets being adapted to engage opposite sidesof the cartons and each set of guide rollers comprising a group ofrollers offset from the other rollers of the set in a direction normalto the direction of travel of the cartons.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

